


Legacy of Love

by CrossGeneration



Category: Free!, Free! Eternal Summer - Fandom
Genre: Depression, Love, M/M, Multi, Unrequited, knowing nagisa, raining, sad mako
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-16 18:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2280306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossGeneration/pseuds/CrossGeneration
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto didn't know when it started, neither did he the how. All he knew was that it was love, and that it was hurting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Legacy of Love

Makoto didn't know what to do. It felt like he and Haru were together, as friends (he stresses in his mind) for almost forever; sharing both painful and joyful memories with the dark-haired teen only made him nostalgic and heart-sick. It had only been a month after Haru and Rin had gonna out, but truthfully? Almost everybody foretold it. Makoto himself only chose to ignore the knowing voice in the back of his head and go on suppressing his feelings all the same. 'It wouldn't hurt as much,' he had lied to himself, 'if I pretend that we're only swimming together, that Rin and Haru are only rivals, that there are no romantic feelings in my life, it might not hurt at all'.  
Life was never so kind. 

Acting is a natural part of life. You just don't realize beforehand much it hurts, the searing pain of loss and regret. But there's nothing else to do but act some more. 

“Mako!” The green-haired teen turned towards his childhood friend with a gentle smile. “Haru, done with swimming laps around the pool?” he teased.  
“Makoto, sorry but I can't go with you afterschool. Rin said that he has a free day and no practice, so we can… go out together.” The taller teen nodded in understanding.  
"Have fun. It's not too often you two go on a date,” and Makoto's smile widened at the sight of Haru blushing. “Go get 'em, tiger.” This time, the free-swimmer grumbled something under his breath before apologizing again and running off towards Samezuka. The facade dropped, leaving the tall and strong teen crumpled and miserable and lost. So this was what love does to you. 

Love tears you down and pick you up only to tear you down again. The never-ending cuts dig deeper and deeper until only a faded mass of scars remain as a reminder.

The walk home was a pointless exercise, taking no effort or thought but need in the time to actually do so. However, when the green-haired teen looked up, there were drops of water in his eyes, and his clothes clung to him like a second skin. The sun was lower to the horizon than he expected and realized, with some time, that he was unconsciously walking towards the playground that he and Haru played often in before they joined the swim team in their elementary. He remembered, in his childhood, that he use to be an extremely shy and quiet person to strangers and really freaked out when someone talked to him for the first time.  
That's precisely why he held onto his friendships like a lifeline because, in a sense, they were all he had other than family. But family was different; he sometimes felt like an obligation to his parents, and an overbearing sense of responsibility fell on his shoulders as the eldest. But friendship was a more fragile relationship, a cord made of ice. Yet the years of hardening and building made the cord turn into love. And Makoto felt like he was betraying his friend. While doing that, he was hurting himself and losing a grip on reality. 

You can't tell the tears in the rain. I think they're the same; they just come from different places. One from a sorrowful pain, and one from an unbearable heaviness. Sometimes, you just can't tell the two apart. 

It wasn't long before he collapsed on his knees and gave a heart-wrenching sob. But after that, the only indications of his pain were the shaking of his shoulders and the fists oh so tempted to pound away on the cement underneath him. It hurt, it burned, it stung, it ripped him apart like he was never there in the first place. It left with a hole where his heart was suppose to be and an inability to pick himself up. 

Everyone wants to be alone in times of depression or weariness. But sometimes, you need that crutch to get back up and start seeing life while standing up again. 

“E-eh? Mako-chan?” It took less than a second for the called teen to place the blonde's voice.  
“Nagisa.” His voice wavered and the water stopped falling onto him. Looking up, he met pink eyes filled with a pitying curiosity and an umbrella. He accepted the hand that allowed him to stand up, and he gave a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. “Thanks. I-I fell there, couldn't really get back up."  
It was all too much, and Makoto didn't feel the need to pour out his feelings and burdens to the younger student. “What happened Mako-chan?”  
"I'm older and taller than you; you shouldn't be calling -chan." Nagisa gave him a look that was supposed to be rebuking in these circumstances, the green-haired teen laughed at how ironic and awkward and rare this situation was. 

People laugh because there's nothing else to do. They laugh when something's funny, they laugh when it's awkward, they laugh when it's serious, they laugh when it's depressing. They laugh in the face of life and in the face of death. It's a simple fact of life. 

“Mako-chan….”  
“Well, I just felt like doing that. You know, teenage life," he looks away while answering, the warm colors of the sunset hidden by the dark and stormy clouds. “It's a mystery what love does to you.”  
With a knowing sigh, Nagisa allowed his sempai take cover with him until he reached his home. Makoto vehemently thanked him and apologized to him before hurrying into his house. The short blonde could hear the exasperated and surprised tone in his teammate's parents' voices and the yelling of his younger siblings.  
The question that Nagisa asked himself before leaving for his own sanctuary was whether or not he should keep it in, like Makoto, or tell Rei despite despite consequences. 

People in love mostly move past with the actions once they see another battling the same war as them. But they're only afraid of the possibility of losing that fight.


End file.
